Wu Jian put on a burst of speed the moment the elder began the fight. He exploded into action, closing the distance between him and his opponent faster than the eye could blink. To his credit, Sun Tao had noticed his rapid approach, but there was little he could do. He was too slow. The widening of his eyes as Wu Jian appeared before him and his snail-like reactions were proof.

Stomping on the ground, Wu Jian halted his forward momentum and used the built up energy from his sudden stop as kinetic energy that he channeled into his fist. He thrust his first forward at such speeds that the very air seemed to shriek. While he didn’t put all his strength into his punch, he did put in enough that the man’s entire side seemed to become concave when his fist struck.

BOOM!

It was like an explosion. The banging sound of flesh meeting flesh was so loud that the other contestants stopped fighting to look in their direction.

Time seemed to slow as Wu Jian stared at Sun Tao, whose face had contorted with pain. The man opened his mouth and a mixture of blood and bile flew from it. Barely a second passed after Wu Jian had punched him, and Sun Tao was suddenly blasted off his feet. He soared through the air like a firework. His flight took him well off the platform. He continued sailing forward until he struck the arena wall hard enough to dent it.

A profound silence followed what happened. Not a word was spoken, and the sounds of combat had ceased. Wu Jian remained in his swinging stance for several seconds, knees bent, and arms outstretched as if grasping for something. He took a deep breath, then slowly stood back up. He glanced at Sun Tao. The man was unconscious, blood leaking from his mouth, eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then he looked at the elder.

“Will you call the match? I don’t think he’s getting up,” said Wu Jian.

“R-right… the winner of this match is Jian Wu,” the elder said.

Wu Jian nodded and leapt off the platform. The other contestants down at the bottom parted to let him pass. Their wary gaze as they watched him was like a rabbit staring at a wolf. He glanced at one of the people as he passed and raised an eyebrow when they flinched. Was he really that scary?

It must be the mask.

Wu Jian had always fought with all his strength and never garnered this reaction when he was younger. It must have been because people couldn’t see his face. An unknown cultivator who wore a blank mask and defeated his opposition with a single blow was probably frightening to these people.

A pair of medics came in with a stretch and took Sun Tao away as the elder did his best to get the preliminary matches rolling again. Contestants went up to the platform and fought, but their heart didn’t seem as in it. A few kept glancing at Wu Jian as he stood there with his arms crossed. Only one or two didn’t seem bothered by the strength he displayed.

“Jian Wu and Ming Fang, you two are up next.”

Wu Jian hopped onto the platform alongside a man in his early or mid-twenties. He had the same black hair and brown eyes as most people, but his skin was a bit tanner than the average person in the Shang Kingdom. He probably spent a lot of time outdoors. His robes were white and blue. Wu Jian thought he belonged to the Raging Tides Sect. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were located on the coast of the White Western Sea.

They rely on water techniques if I’m not mistaken… well, it’s in the name. Raging Tides. Can’t imagine what else they would use.

“You may have defeated Sun Tao as easily as breathing, but I promise you, I won’t be so easy to beat,” Ming Fang declared. His weapon of choice was a trident. The two-pronged polearm looked quite sharp and deadly as the tips gleamed in the light.

“We’ll see,” was all Wu Jian said.

The elder raised a hand. “Are both contestants ready? On the count of three, two, one… fight!”

Ming Fang began channeling chi through his body mere moments after the battle started. The way the chi circulated through him made it clear he was gathering a lot for a big attack. He probably wanted to release some kind of tidal wave or something that would sweep Wu Jian away.

Not that Wu Jian had any intention of letting that happen.

Before the man had finished channeling his chi for the technique, Wu Jian was in his face, thrusting out his fist so fast that all anyone could see was a blur. Fist struck chest in an explosion of energy that launched the man off his feet. He couldn’t even scream as he flew through the air and slammed into the wall hard enough to dent it. The place where his body struck was just a few jin shy of where Sun Tao’s body had been planted into the wall.

…

…

…

More silence. Several of the other contestants looked like they were having trouble picking their jaws off the floor. Even the elder didn’t look like he knew what to do. Wu Jian waited patiently, then glanced at the elder.

“Are you gonna call it?” he asked.

“Er… right. Th-the winner of this match is Wu Jian,” the elder said. His face was pale.

Wu Jian hopped off the platform and found a place to watch the matches before he was called up again.

He didn’t blame the elder for being so shocked. The Shang Kingdom was interesting in that there wasn’t much disparity between the strength of the elders and disciples. That was thanks in no small part to the lack of resources. While most disciples would only reach the fourth or fifth subrealm of the Asura Realm, it wasn’t like that was a big difference from the ninth. A five or four subrealm difference was miniscule compared to the realm difference between disciples and elders in other sects. The Four Great Pavilions of the Ming Province were all at the Human Limit Realm. It was supposedly a requirement for sects in other nations to be at the Human Limit Realm to even be considered for the position of elder. That it wasn’t here was just a sign of the Shang Kingdom’s weakness.

“Wu Jian and Jin Shou. You two are up,” the elder called.

With a deep breath, Wu Jian climbed onto the platform and secured yet another easy victory.

***

“Victory goes to Jian Wu!”

“Jian Wu wins!”

“Jian Wu is victorious!”

“… Jian Wu’s opponent has forfeit! He wins!”

Hou Jingshu was up in the viewing booth as she watched Wu Jian claim victory after victory. He made it looks so easy. A single punch was enough to defeat every opponent he had faced so far. None of them were a match for his indomitable strength.

“He’s gotten so much stronger now. I don’t think I could compete with him anymore,” Zhou Lihua said with a bitter smile.

“Well, you are more focused on alchemy these days. It’s only natural that you wouldn’t be as strong as him given that your focus is so different. I don’t think it’s anything to fret over,” Hou Jingshu tried to reassure her.

Zhou Lihua’s expression didn’t change as she watched Wu Jian secure yet another victory. His opponent this time had managed to dodge Wu Jian’s first attack, a straightforward punch to the solar plexus, but he hadn’t been able to do anything when Wu Jian kicked him so hard in the stomach that he crashed into the wall. That young man seemed to make a point of denting the arena walls with the bodies of his opponents.

“I know you are right, but it’s still a very bittersweet feeling,” Zhou Lihua said.

Hou Jingshu couldn’t disagree, especially when she tried to place herself in Zhou Lihua’s shoes. The Zhou Clan heiress had been a very strong fighter when they were younger. She took part in tournaments and would often spar with them. She was easily able to keep pace with her, Wu Meiying, and Wu Jian. However, after she began learning alchemy, her focus had shifted. It didn’t happen right away, yet slowly but surely, she stopped practicing martial arts and instead devoted herself to alchemy.

There was nothing wrong with choosing alchemy over martial arts. However, Hou Jingshu knew that if she found herself no longer able to stand beside Wu Jian because she lacked strength, she would feel the exact same way Zhou Lihua probably felt right now.

“Do you regret choosing alchemy over the martial dao?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“Sometimes,” Zhou Lihua admitted, sighing heavily. She placed her hands on the railing and looked down at the arena. “There are times where I wonder if I’d still be able to compete with him had I focused on my martial arts instead of alchemy… but then I remember that, had I not chosen alchemy, I would have never been sent to the capital. If that had happened…”

I would have never been reunited with Wu Jian.

The words were unspoken, but Hou Jingshu heard them all the same. It was true. The reason she had been sent to study in the capital was because of her talent for alchemy. If she’d only been a skilled martial artist, she would have never been sent there, and she would have never met Wu Jian again after the Wu Clan’s destruction. Wu Jian had no desire to travel back to where his old clan used to be. Hou Jingshu knew the idea of doing so caused him too much pain. Zhou Lihua would have gone the rest of her life without ever knowing that he had survived, and the sequelae caused by his “death” would have left her incapable of progressing as either an alchemist or a martial artist.

“So if you had to choose between martial arts and alchemy…”

“I would choose alchemy,” Zhou Lihua tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. “This way I can not only help him in ways a martial artist can’t, but I can stand by his side in a way that is different from you and Mei.”

Hou Jingshu glanced at Zhou Wen when Zhou Lihua mentioned Wu Meiying. They were being very careful not to say anything too incriminating. Fortunately, no one in the Zhou Clan’s Imperial Shang City branch knew the name Wu Meiying. So long as they only used her nickname, they should be safe.

“I didn’t think of it like that.” Hou JIngshu paused. “I guess to gain something, you must also give something up.”

“Yes. That is an immutable truth of this world,” Zhou Lihua agreed.

Silence reigned between them, each lost to their own thoughts. Wu Jian continued to wrack up victory after victory until he won his preliminary. Since he was already done, Hou Jingshu looked at Yu Qiang. Yu Chenguang’s nephew was doing well, though his performance was nowhere near as mind-blowing as Wu Jian’s. He still won every match and would proceed onto the main tournament.

It was already growing dark. No stars hung in the night sky, but Hou Jingshu wondered if that was because they were in another space. She didn’t understand how these spaces worked. Had they been transported somewhere else, or were they no longer on their world?

“The first set of preliminary matches are now over,” Húndàn Qie announced. “The next set of matches will begin tomorrow. It is late, but you may all have dinner in the mess hall tonight. I suggest everyone who will be participating in tomorrow’s preliminaries get a good night’s rest after they finish eating.”

Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua met up with Wu Jian and Yu Qiang. The two were discussing their matches, though Yu Qiang did most of the talking. All Wu Jian said was that all his opponents were too weak. Yu Qiang had never looked more aggrieved.

“That’s because you’re like a monster in human’s clothing,” he said blandly.

“That’s a pretty rude thing to say,” Wu Jian muttered.

Yu Qiang sighed. “I guess it’s not really fair to you. Sorry. I guess I’m just a little jealous.”

“It’s pretty rare for you to admit you’re jealous of someone,” Hou Jingshu said.

Yu Qiang shrugged. “There’s an exception for everything.”

“We should head to the mess hall and get some food. I’m sure you two are hungry,” Zhou Lihua interrupted.

As if her words were the cue, two stomachs growled. Wu Jian grabbed his empty tummy as Yu Qiang rubbed the back of his head and blushed.

They headed into the mess hall, where the two young men ate a veritable pile of food, all under the watchful eyes of the two women who looked like they didn’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted by the amount of food they shoveled into their mouths. Hou Jingshu did think it was impressive that Wu Jian could eat so fast while still wearing his mask.

Once they had their fill, the group returned to where they were staying, said their goodnights, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be another long day of matches, and Hou Jingshu wanted to spectate so she could observe the strongest contenders they would face in this tournament.